Ballykinlar – more than a base

GARVAGHEY, Owenbeg, Convoy – hitherto fairly obscure place-names now synonymous with GAA centre of excellences, and in time, you can add Ballykinlar to the list.

It was announced last week that Down GAA will receive over £12.6million in funding to develop a new base from the EU-supported PEACEPLUS Programme.

Here’s the nuts and bolts – the proposed 30-acre development will include four full-size GAA grass pitches (three of which are floodlit), a covered spectator seating area, an indoor multi-use games area (MUGA), a walking trail, a gym, a museum and other community facilities.

To say this has been a long time in the making would be putting it mildly. Located on a former military base, the proposal for the Down GAA centre of excellence was mooted more than 25 years ago in 1994 with the Ministry of Defence, though it was felt that the political climate was not right at the time.

The plans were picked up again in 2017 though it’s taken until now for funding to be secured and the construction itself will take a number of years.

While the location isn’t to everyone’s taste, it’s not as if Ballykinlar is a total curveball. Two-time All-Ireland winner Conor Deegan, a native of Downpatrick just a few miles up the road, recalls that they toiled in Ballykinlar during the winter months, laying the seeds for their summer jaunts through Ulster and beyond.

“We’d have trained all winter in Ballykinlar then gravitated towards south Down. Under Pete (McGrath) we’d have spent a lot of time around Rostrevor. That’s the way it was, we wintered in Ballykinlar, summered in Rostrevor and we’ve been travelling ever since.

“It’s the best playing surface you’ll ever play on, you can play there any time of the year, you can wear mouldy boots there, you can plough up and down it night after night and it holds up tremendously well.

“It’s all sand-based there, it’s top of the line and the pitch can be used quite heavily. The new pitches will be similar so there’s absolutely no doubting that it’ll be top class in that respect.

“Yes there have been questions and eyebrows raised about where it’ll be located, it’s obviously an ex-army base and that doesn’t sit well with everybody. But you know, we have to bite the bullet, make it our own because it’s going where it’s going. It’s up to us to take ownership of it in that sense and I’ve no doubt that we will.”

That said, the main argument cited against Ballykinlar isn’t its British Army past, but it’s location itself. It isn’t entirely off the beaten track – it’s ten miles from Newcastle and half an hour’s drive from Carryduff for instance, but it’s far enough removed from the south Down hinterlands and the roads leading into the village aren’t worth talking about.

But when all is said and done, Deegan believes it will be a major asset to Down GAA.

“We’ve been left behind in many regards. We’re up to Division Two now but we haven’t been where we’ve needed to be otherwise.

“Unfortunately many number of decisions have caused that and it’s vitally important we have a solid base for our underage and development squads, our physios, strength and conditioning and everything else.

“Geographically it’s not the centre of the county, but to put it in a very simplistic way, it needs to happen, and it needed to happen 20 years ago. The fact we’ve got 15.4 million euros in funding is incredible as it means the whole thing can probably be done in one fell swoop rather than bit-by-bit, but as I say, it’s so badly needed.”

Pressing home the point, Deegan says that Down footballers from the traditional heartlands should just accept that they’ll have to rack up the miles for the greater good.

“The roads aren’t great into it, there’s no point in saying otherwise. I know it very well and it’s not brilliant, but as long as you don’t drive at a lunatic speed, you’ll be grand and you’ll get there no problem.

“I know it’s not the geographic centre of Down, it’s on the coast but it’s not too bad for the lads coming from the Belfast direction, they’ll drive down through Ballynahinch and Clough and head left towards Ballykinlar.

“It’s a bit more of a drive for the guys from the Newry direction, but my question is, where else could you put it?

“It’s going to be a drive for somebody somewhere. It’s a space that we need so badly and if it’s utilised probably it’ll be of huge benefit.

“We’ve been up at Garvaghey in Tyrone, it’s a fantastic facility and look at the difference it’s made, Tyrone have won two of the last three All-Irelands at u-20 level and they don’t have to worry about sourcing grounds and all the rest of it. It’s about creating that real sense of identity and building your culture, all those lovely words that people like to use, but deep down it’s what we need.

“We must be one of the last counties, in Ulster at least, to have a centre of excellence. Whatever we call it, we need a place to call our own where we can reliably turn up and train and not have to think about it. On a weekly basis it would definitely make lift a lot simpler for Down teams at all levels.”

Though Down have certainly made strides at senior intercounty level under Conor Laverty, they aren’t ranked among the contenders for All-Ireland titles. A new centre of excellence should at the very least help matters, but Deegan is keen to emphasise that success on the pitch comes down to the players at the end of the day.

“The very first point to make is that Down have gone up a league and that is badly needed. Division Two isn’t going to be easy, there’s good teams there but, really, you need to be up at the top end of Division One if you’re really going to push things forward.

“Things have been better than it has been but next year is critically important. Staying in Division Two would be massive and anything above that would be bonus territory.

“We’ve good footballers, we’ve always had good footballers but we need a bit more of something else.

“If you look at Armagh, they’ve punched above their weight for years. I think Kieran McGeeney has done a magnificent job, people have questioned him at times, but for him to achieve what he’s achieved on the back of not much underage success and turn it into an All-Ireland win is an enormous achievement.

“Down lost to Armagh by a point in Ulster and I know you can’t focus everything on one game but we can still take heart from that and ask ourselves, well what’s our next target?

“The reality is that if you stick at it and work hard at it, good things can happen.

“And when all is said and done, the players need to stand up and take responsibility. It’s up to them to drive the thing on as much as anybody else. Managers don’t kick the ball over the bar at the end of the day.”